In recent years, flat panel displays have been utilized in various products and various fields, and there has been demand for a larger size, higher image quality, and lower power consumption in such flat panel displays.
Under such circumstances, organic EL display devices including an organic EL (electroluminescence) element using the electro luminescence of an organic material have been garnering great attention as all-solid flat panel displays capable of being driven at a low voltage and having good high-speed responsiveness, good self-emission characteristics, and the like.
For example, in an organic EL display device of the active matrix type, a thin film-like organic EL element is provided on a substrate on which TFTs (thin film transistors) are provided. In the organic EL element, an organic EL layer including an emissive layer is stacked between a pair of electrodes. The TFTs are connected to one of the pair of electrodes. Then, a voltage is applied between the pair of electrodes to cause the emissive layer to emit light, whereby an image is displayed.
For the above-described conventional organic EL display device, it has been proposed to seal the organic EL element in order to prevent the organic EL element from being degraded by moisture and oxygen.
Specifically, the above-described conventional organic EL display device includes an organic EL element, a substrate on which the organic EL element is provided, and a sealing substrate disposed so as to oppose the substrate, as described in, for example, Patent Document 1 below. Then, in the conventional organic EL display device, a frame-shaped glass frit is provided between the substrate and the sealing substrate so as to surround the organic EL element, whereby the organic EL element can be sealed.